Musical Theatre for Kids

Britain has got talent. I have been involved with running summer schools for more than 10 years, working at theatres and concert halls throughout the UK. I set up EduStage with the aim of giving children an original musical theatre experience over the school holidays.

We are pleased at EduStage to be different from other musical theatre holiday schools. We are not doing songs from the shows, shortened versions of standard musicals or large scale holiday schools. These definitely have their place and are always popular among young people. What we offer instead are original musicals that have been conceived specifically for the holiday schools. This means that every participant will be completely involved acting, singing and dancing. Our performances are also fully costumed (with all costumes provided).

On the first day we begin with some ice breaking activities, as many of the children may not know each other and then we move onto some simple dance movement, singing and informal auditions where the children are given the opportunity to show any theatre skills they have. They will then read through the script of the show they are to perform listening to the music and after lunch we will get some of the children to do some more acting, singing or dancing before making our final decisions as to who will play which part. By the end of the day all the children will know what parts they are playing and will go home with their scripts so they know what they have to learn. There then follows three days of intense rehearsals which culminate in a performance at the theatre on the Friday afternoon with sound and lights in front of an invited audience, where we have a policy not to charge for tickets so that as many of children’s family and friends as possible can come.

Every summer school is different. We have a repertoire of shows which we use and even when we do the same one, the children always manage to stamp their personality on the parts. Some of them may have dreams of one day appearing on a West End stage, whilst others just want to do a fun activity in their school holidays. Some may have had a great deal of experience in performance while for others this may be their first time stepping on a stage. All are welcome! The children learn about the importance of working as part of a team, gain new friends and often find out that they have hidden talents which they can go on and develop after the holiday school has ended. Some may never have danced before or been given a solo to sing but one thing is guaranteed: the summer school will always be memorable and full of surprises!

We are delighted with the support we have received from the staff at the Exmouth Pavilion and are excited to be returning there for the sixth time from August 22 to 26 with a brand new musical, The Magician.

Jeffrey Whitton (Holiday school director)

For further details on our summer schools please contact Jeffrey Whitton at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit our website www.edustage.co.uk

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Viking Warrior by Kodakgold

Over the centuries, Totnes has been no stranger to invading hoards from Scandinavian regions. Originally founded as a means of protecting the approaches from the Dart River, Totnes has become one of the most visited Towns in Devon, and even today is attracting many Nordic visitors, but mostly with eating healthy food on their minds.

Olsen Café – Scandinavian Kitchen, in Ticklemore Street, is a new venture started by Karl Rasmussen. Karl had for many years been the Head Chef at the now sadly closed, Effings in Fore Street. But now he is following his Danish roots and producing excellent, healthy, Scandinavian influenced cuisine, in his own restaurant. Since opening, he has also discovered that he is not alone, in fact, there are many more Scandinavians living in the area than you might expect. He is now building up quite a reputation with them and his Sunday lunchtime buffets are pretty much fully booked. One of the regular groups travels in from Exeter and its surroundings, a society celebrating all things Scandinavian. It has recently been discovered that people are even coming from as far as Taunton to sample Karl’s Smorgasbord.

Karl has recently launched his new website, which contains information and news about events at the restaurant, and some popular recipes. This area of the site will grow and eventually become a blog for visitors to post items too directly, and act as a hub for like minded people to share information and views.